Car-door-locking means



Aug. 25,1925. 1",55o,a64

A. Ef. ZIMMER CAR DOOR LOCKING-MEANS VFiled may 28, 1924 2 sneev-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. ALBERT E Z/MMER' Al/J H/sATToRNEY Allg. 25, 1925,'. 1,5504' A. E. ZIMMER CAR DOOTLOCKING MEANS Filed may 28. 1924 sheets-sheet a EN PN,

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ai naar maar ai en Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES .ALBERT E. ZIMMER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION F ILLINOIS.

CAR-DOOR-LOCKING MEANS.

Application filed May 28,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. ZIMMER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Door-Locking Means, of which the following is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specilication.

My invention relates to improvements in car door locking means and is especially adapted for locking the doors of railway dump cars and the like.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application Serial Number 628,177, filed March 28th 1923.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and eliicient means for locking the 0 doors in closed position.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for locking and releasing swinging side doors individually and especially to provide locking mechanism which will engage a door simultaneously at diiferent points in the length thereof.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from -the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of part of a` dump car showing my improved car door locking means applied thereto. Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view corresponding substantially to the section on line 2--2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a fractional side elevational view, of the part of a car, sho-wing on a still larger scale, an application of my improved car door locking means employing only 4one supporting guide. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a vertical, sectional view corresponding substantially to the section line 5-5 on Figure 3.

In said drawings, the car is shown as provided with a side sill 10, a fixed floor 11 extending a limited distance outwardly beyond the side sill, vertical stakes 12-12, a vertically extending corner member 13, a horizontally extending top member 14, and a swinging side door A.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the swing- 1924. Serial No. 716,348.

ing door A is pivoted along its upper edge as indicated at 15 to suitable hinge butts attached to the top member 14. Said door A preferably consists of a plurality of longitudinally extending boards or planks secured together by means of vertically extending beams 16-16. Each of the latter, at the lowerfree edge of the door, is deflected inwardly as indicated at 17 and preferably inwardly beneath the projecting fixed floor 11, for the purpose hereinafter described.

In order to eliminate the use of the heavy and expensive mechanism such as is usually utilized to operate a plurality of doors in unison, I employ locking mechanism ccnsisting of locking latches C and D, there being preferably two for each door, as shown in the drawings. The said locking latches are respectively mounted on brackets E and F and are adapted to have swinging movement in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the door. The number of such latches required to effectively lock a. door depends largely on the size of the same but a preferred construction consists in utilizing two latches per door and connecting them to operate in unison and in such a manner that the locking of one latch in the series will also lock the other.

The .respective latches C and D differ from each other in the respect that the left hand latch as viewed on the drawings and designated as C is provided with locking means and with a downward extension 18 for the purpose of providing a handle whereby the mechanism is operated. The bracket E on which said latch C is mounted is shown as being of composite construction being formed of three different members 19, 20 and 21, but it will be understood that if so desired, a unitary bracket may be utilized. That member designated as 19 is preferably in the form of an angle member secured to the side sill 10 of the car and having an elongated slot 22 formed in the horizontal flange thereof, united to said horizontal flange and to the side sill is the member 20 which is formed with an inner or main wall 28 and an outer wall 24 spaced somewhat from the said main wall and connected thereto by a transversely extending horizontal wall 25. Securely riveted to the vertical flange of the member 19 and to the side sill 10 is the member 21 which is provided near one end thereof with an outwardly projecting curved wall 2G which constitutes an abutment to limit sidewise shifting of the door A in one direction and thereby counteracts the sidewise pressure imparted on the door during the closing operation thereof. The latch member C is disposed between the outer and inner walls 24 and 23 respectively of the memberI 20 and pivotally mounted upon a pin 26 extending through the walls 23 and 2li, the latch member being provided with a vertically extending portion 27 which extends through the slot 22 and above the lower edge of the door beam 1G. One side of the upper portion of the latch C is formed of arcuate shape with which a locking cam 28 is adapted to engage to lock the parts in closed position, said cam 28 is preferably mounted on a stud 29 formed integrally with the member 21 and is maintained in operative relation therewith by a bolt and nut as indicated at 30.

Latch D, which is mounted on bracket F on the right hand side of the door A as viewed in the drawings, is provided at its lower end with a pair of jaws 31---31 between which a connecting rod 32 extends, said rod being connected at one end thereto by means of pivot 33 and at the other end to the latch C by means of pivot 34. Suitable supporting guides for the longitudinal rod 252 are provided as shown at 35-35. Inasmuch as the component parts of bracket F are similar in design to those described in connection with the bracket E differing only in size and in the necessary essentials for the locking cam 28, a detailed description of these parts is omitted.

Referring to Figure 3, the latches C and D are respectively shown as in the path of their corresponding door beams 16-16, the latter being inwardly offset as hereinbefore described to permit of the latch members being placed close to the side sills and protected by the floor from the falling materiaL In this position the parts are locked in position by the cam 28 and outward bending of the latches due to the pressure of the lading in the car is prevented due to the engagement between the latch and the outer surface 86 of the slot in the brackets. To open the doors, assuming the parts in locked position as shown in Figure 3, the operator rotates the cam 28 in a clockwise direction to disengage the same from the latch C and grasps the handle 18 of latch C and moves same in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 37 this clockwise movement of the handle is communicated to the latch D through the rod 32 and the upper portions of both latches are moved to the right free of their respective door beams 16-16 there'- by permitting the door A to open,

While I have shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is by way of illustration only and I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

`What I claim is:

1. In a railway car, having a dumping opening in the side thereof; the combination with a door adapted to close said opening, said door being hinged at its upper end; of an arm secured toi said door and extending beyond the lower end thereof; a latch member having the upper end thereof cooperating with said arm to lock the door in closed position, said latch member being pivotally mounted on the ear below the lower edge of the door to move in a plane parallel to the plane of the door.

2. In a railway car having a dumping opening in the side thereof, the combination of the door adapted to close said opening, said door being hinged at its upper end; of a member pivotally mounted on the side wall of the car below said door to move in a plane transverse to the movement of said door, said member having an operating handle and said door and member being provided, above the pivot point of said member, with co-acting locking means.

3. In a railway car having a dumping opening in the side thereof, the combination with a door adapted to' close said opening, said door being hinged at the upper side; of a pair of locking members pivotally mounted on the side wall of the car below said door to move in a plane transverse to the movement of said door, said members and door being provided above the. pivot point of said members with interlocking mea-ns thereon; and means for connecting said members for simultaneous operation.

4. In a railway car having a discharge opening in the side thereof, the combination with a. door adapted to close said opening, said door being pivotally mounted at its upper end to swing in a plane transverse to the side of the car; a latch on the side of the car below said door, said latch being pivotally mounted between its end and adapted to swing in a plane transverse to the movement of the door; and co-acting inter-engaging locking means on said door and the upper end of said latch.

5. In a railway car having a dumping opening in the side thereof; the combination with ai door adapted to close said opening, said door being hinged at its upper end; of an arm secured to said door and extending beyond the lower end thereof; a latch co-operating with said arm to lock the door in closed position, said latch having movement in a plane at right angles to the movement of the door; and a bracket secured to the car structure adjacent the lower edge CTI thereof, said bracket being adapted to engage the arm on the door and limit sidewise movement thereof.

6. In a side discharging car having a side frame and a swinging door; the combination with a slotted bracket rigidly secured to the side fra-me; of a latch member pivotally mounted below the said slotted bracket and having a portion extended vertically in the path of the door.

7. In a side discharging car having a side frame, a iioor, and a swinging door having an extension projecting below the floor; the combination with a latch member pivotally mounted on the side frame and extended vertically in the plane of movement of the extension of said door; of means disposed intermediate the pivotal point of said latch and the door extension to prevent outward movement of the latch member.

8. In a dump car having a bottom side sill, a side top member, vertical stakes connected respectively to the side sill and top member, and a iioor extending outwardly beyond said side sill, said top member, Hoor and stakes defining a door opening; the combination with a swinging door hinged to said to-p member for closing said opening and having extensions projecting downwardly beyond the free edges of the doors, said extensions being deflected inwardly to points beneath the door when the door is` in closed position; of slotted brackets secured to the side sill; latch members pivotally mounted on the ear structure and extended upwardly through said slotted brackets and engageable with the door extensions; and connecting means between a plurality of the latches to cause the same to operate in unison.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of May 1924.

ALBERT E. ZIMMER. 

